Relationship

HTB leaders past and present gather together during the church’s unusually sunny annual week away to answer questions from the congregation. Graham is joined by current vicar Nicky Gumbel and associate vicar Archie Coates, as well as worship leader Tim Hughes and former vicar of HTB, Sandy Miller, with questions deftly fielded by Andy Emerton. What is the relationship between the church and the Kingdom of God, and do Christians have a monopoly on living out the Kingdom? How should the church work with secular organisations? The panel also discuss the place of the Trinity in the theology of the Alpha Course, and of singing in worship, before moving on to the stewardship of money, and the books of the Apocrypha. They also touch on the sensitive issue of prayer ministry in the face of terminal illness.

Our three theologians grapple with the doctrine of the Trinity and its relation to the cross. In Mark’s gospel, Jesus cries out on the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34). What does this cry of dereliction tell us about the relationship between Father, Son and Holy Spirit? Can God suffer? Can he change? Is God’s action sometimes ‘hidden’, as Pascal suggested? Graham, Mike, and Jane go on to consider the relationship between prayer and time and the nature of human participation in the work of God. Can we pray for things that have already happened? Can we pray for our loved ones who have died?